Winx Club Rewrite 1: Pursuit of Flame
by Light of the Stars
Summary: Bloom Peters had a relatively normal life until Stella barged into her day, hotly pursued by an ogre. Stella always was one for dramatic entrances.
1. The Fall of Domino

_The Fall of Domino is widely regarded to be one of the worst acts of dark magic in recorded history, possibly beyond that. Domino, already crippled from Valtor's attempts at carrying out his mistresses' orders, was not prepared for the Ancestral Witches to launch the full force of their power against Domino. They had a good reason to - while Domino tried to keep their possession of the Dragon Flame a secret, everyone knew that a certain noble family had always held particularly powerful mages, and when Queen Marion Wyrnia I married into the royal line, many were already worried about Domino's influence, as it was already a major power player. The fact remains, however, that were it not for the stars seemingly aligning in the royal family's favor, the Witches may well have achieved their goal, and the Magix Dimension could have very well fallen to them._

_\- A History of the Ancestral Witches, Dominian Royal Archives_

The screams of her people echoed in her ears, and it pained Daphne that she couldn't do anything about it; however, she had to protect the one power that the witches were after: the Dragon Flame. Her sister was still sleeping, as if Domino wasn't burning around her. _Where can I send her? Where can she go?_

"Daphne? DAPHNE!" Io screamed, pulling the princess out of her reverie. "We need to act _now_. What're we going to do with Pyra?"

Io was unnaturally serious. Daphne's head spun as her brain sent a thousand different messages to each part of her body: _run! Hide! Fight!_ "I don't know," she said helplessly. "Where do I send her? Where should she go? Which planet will the Ancestrals not care about?"

They both fell silent, thinking. Neither of them knew of such a place; the Ancestral Witches' wrath was so great and terrible that, if the Company of Light didn't manage to stop them, they might never cease their rampage across the universe, such was the extent of their insanity. The thought was terrifying.

"Earth," Io said suddenly, as if she was surprised that the thought had come to her. "Send her to Earth. After all, it's losing its magic, right? What could the Ancestrals possibly want with a 'useless' planet like that?"

"They're insane, Io," Daphne reminded her, feeling that the notion shouldn't need reminding, given their current situation. "Who knows if they'll leave it at that?"

"We could at least try," said Io determinedly. "You and Pyra are the only surviving heirs of Domino, the greatest planet of the Magix Dimension. We cannot rule out the possibility that you may not survive the fight, Daph. Right now, Earth has the highest chance of keeping Pyra safe, given it's a Tethering World and thus has a seal around it. Give her the Dragon Flame and send her away; hopefully, once she grows and after this is all over, someone will find her. Besides, Eldora will take care of her."

Daphne smiled sadly at the thought of her fairy godmother. It was a big 'if' they were piling their hopes on, but Io was only echoing Daphne's own thoughts. "Okay," she sighed, taking a deep breath and reaching down inside herself to find her Flame. "_Bidh mi a 'gairm draoidhean ethereal an Dragon Flame agus gan leigeil am sgaoil don Bhana-phrionnsa Pyra à Domino, nighean Rìgh Oritel agus a' Bhanrigh Marion, fear de shliochd airidh air First Vessel Brigid. Tha i a 'mionnachadh a bhith ga chleachdadh gu math, gus a dìon le a beatha, agus gun a bhith ga chleachdadh airson adhbharan gun adhbhar. Mar sin tha ag ràdh, mar sin mote e._"

Her voice rose with each word, the phrase undertaking its own beat. After she'd repeated the chant three times, her shoulders slumped (she would have dropped Pyra if it weren't for the ever-faithful Io) and her face beaded with sweat. Her hair stuck to her face. Out of her chest came a small, flickering spark. Daphne felt strangely empty as she watched it 'inspect' Pyra, wondering if the Flame would deem her worthy. The spark was not at all the full force of a developed flame, but it would grow with time. Daphne pressed Pyra close to herself, feeling more like a mother to her than an elder sister, though perhaps that would change as time went on. She briefly wondered if she would survive. _Of course you will, Daph. You'll survive and bring Pyra home._ With this comforting thought, she sent a string of magic out to Earth, tying to to Pyra's still-growing core.

And Pyra disappeared.

_Daphne_, came Marion's voice. _Daphne! Come!_

"Mom's calling," Daphne told Io. "I can go on my own. You shouldn't risk yourself for me."

Io took Daphne's hand. "You and I 'til the end, sister. I will not violate my oath now." Her dark blue eyes seemed to glow. "I am a Dragon's Teeth warrior. We will stay with our Vessel always."

"Except Pyra's the Vessel now."

Io shook her head, smiling sadly. "I have no illusion I will survive this fight to find Pyra."

Daphne shook her head firmly. "Don't think like that, Io! People who accept their death fight less. We can't have one of our best fighters give up!"

Io's face seemed to brighten. "Does that mean I can accompany you?"

Daphne shook her head. "I knew I wouldn't be able to convince you. Very well." She strengthened her grip on Io's hand and followed the thread of magic Marion had sent out to her - and much like Pyra, they disappeared.

When they reappeared next to Marion, the queen and former Vessel didn't give them any time to orient themselves. "We are facing something even more powerful than Valtor, girls," she said gravely. "We may not be able to stop this force." Here, she looked straight into Daphne's eyes. "I could feel you grant the Flame to Pyra. I only hope that it was the right decision, as it reduces your power greatly. Anyway, to save Domino, we must resort to the last ace-in-the-hole we have."

"Which is?" Io asked.

"The Flame's Grimoire. It was a comprehensive guide to First Vessel Brigid's offensive and defensive spells - _all_ of them."

"That's a huge gamble, Mother," Daphne reminded her. "People who don't have the Flame would be hard-pressed to pull it off without side effects, and none of us have even a sliver of it right now."

"It's our last chance to save Domino."

The steel in Marion's voice cowed Daphne. She sighed, wondering why no one listened to her. "Io and I will go there soon as possible."

Daphne, once again, grabbed Io's hand and they flew to the vault together, stopping every few seconds for identity verification, as if their DNA would change within twenty feet of walking. Io groaned. "Why's your family so paranoid?"

"These magics are very powerful, Io, but this _is_ a little bit overkill," Daphne admitted as they landed and ran to the vault to tug it open. The princess and her guard shot through the opening like a laser. "Flame's Grimoire, Flame's Grimoire, Flame's Grimoire," Daphne muttered as she cast her eyes around the room - locating spells wouldn't work in the vault.

"Found it!" Io shrieked, a note of hysteria in her voice.

"Go ahead without me, Io," Daphne said. She saw Io about to object and shook her head. "Valtor's known to steal magic from other planets. I need to seal the vault away so the Witches and their lackey don't get their hands on the stuff here. Please, just this once, listen to me. And no detours to play the hero, okay? Two lives can be sacrificed for everyone else. That's an order."

Io's eyes glimmered with betrayal; breaking a Dragon's Teeth oath was akin to a life in prison. One of the warriors was never to leave their liege's side. "Alright," she spat, "but I _swear_, Daphne Marion Wyrnia, if you don't die here, I'll kill you myself! That's a _promise_."

"Always did like the action movie references, didn't you?" It was so nice to have a normal conversation and pretend that Domino wasn't crumbling around them.

"You know it."

Daphne laughed. "I _do_. Oh, I do. Now go!"

Io nodded once and ran.

Once she was gone, Daphne de-transformed from Nymphix and re-transformed into Phoenix, the fire equivalent of Sirenix. She wobbled with the magical energy it took out of her, but managed to close her eyes. "I, as a Phoenix fairy, demand access to the Realm of the Eternal Flame." She felt herself being pulled out of that dimension, but managed to stay grounded and took the spell matrix of the dimension-summoner and combined it with the inherent magic of the vault, which had developed over time since things that had magic woven into their very words had been resting in there for a very, very long time.

With a final almighty _shove_, Daphne completed the spell, and the contents of the vault disappeared. She sighed in relief, not completely cancelling the spell just yet to make sure to make sure the texts went through properly - and that's when she felt a spell sing into her shoulderblades.

She screamed as her magic flared up and tried to protect her, trying to shunt her to the Realm of the Eternal Flame, and she was slowly dying in the process as the excruciating spell took effect.

* * *

Io tried to find Queen Marion's thread of magic as she flew, but even though Her Majesty was like a second mother to her, you could only feel the threads of family or those you had an _exceptionally_ close bond with. So she had to fly and waste valuable time, which frustrated her greatly.

She passed many fighters in need of help, but as much as she longed to jump into the fray and feel _useful_, she had to follow Daphne's orders. As much as it pained her to say so, her soul sister was right: she couldn't waste valuable time in favor of a few lives in the here and now when she could save billions in the future.

She burst into the room Queen Marion was in and saw the king had joined her, along with refugees unable to fight or healers helping the wounded. "My queen!" Io gasped. "I have returned with the tome." She dumped the Flame's Grimoire into Marion's lap rather unceremoniously. "I can help you start it."

Marion frantically paged through the book, looking for the right spell. "Where is it, _where is it_?" Her eyes landed on the next page, "Spell of Draogn Summoning, ultimately forbidden-" She went pale. "Runs the risk of killing all involved casters."

"No, my queen!" one of the other people in the room yelled. "You must not sacrifice yourself!"

"I agree, Marion," came King Oritel's deep rumble. "We need an adult member of the royal family alive to keep us going."

"No," Marion insisted. "You do not know how to channel the Dragon Flame, and though it is not with me now, I remember clearly what it feels like to use it. It may not kill me."

And round and round the argument went. The people, understandably, didn't want their monarch to die, but the fact remained that Marion was the only one with some idea of how to cast the spell. However, it was too late. A chilling cackle cut through the debate.

Lysslis, Belladonna, and Tharma could not by any stretch of the imagination be called human. Their skin was pale and gray, with purple, blue, and red accents respectively. Magic of the same color leaked out of their eyes, and they were only held together by pure magical energy. That may seem fragile, but the magic they were made of healed all possible wounds. Oritel immediately guarded his people and wife from the Witches. "Get away from them, right now," he warned, "or you'll regret it."

He tried to mask the fear in his voice, but the Witches caught on to it like sharks smelling blood in the water. "No, _King Oritel_, I don't think we will." They somehow managed to make his title seem like a mockery.

Oritel leaped into action, striking Lysslis with his sword. She nimbly twirled aside, and thus, a dangerous dance began.

Oritel was a skilled fighter, and he striked many killing blows, but the magic simply healed them all. His people and Marion tried to help, but they, too, were ineffective against the Witches. "Say hello to your daughter, Oritel," Tharma hissed, and Oritel's eyes widened. Caught in his moment of weakness, Belladonna striked a killing blow, and Oritel fell.

Io let out a Dragon's Teeth war cry and charged, engaging them as Oritel had. Her magic had more of an effect, though: it ate through the Ancestrals'. She fire off a curse at them, slowing them down as she dodged and kept on cutting. Their injuries healed in slow motion, but Io couldn't keep up the spell forever. Time magic had never been her forte, and when the curse faded away, Lysslis rose to her full, great height, and stared down at her, infuriated. "You are no match for _me_, little fairy!" she shrieked, and fired a killing curse at her. Io crumpled to the floor, her vision fading.

"We swear vengeance!" the three hissed in eerie unison, and the magic in the air pulsed in acceptance of the vow. "We will haunt your dreams and torture you until you are so insane you are laughing in delight from the pain-"

Suddenly, their vow was interrupted as the Flame's Grimoire activated, a golden light spreading through the patterns on the cover and similarily encompassing Marion's skin. All eyes turned to her as she summoned all of her power to put in the spell. It was like a great ice cream scoop was taking all of her power and putting it into the spell; that was the only way she could think of to describe it. Her chanting grew louder and louder. "_Begone_!" she said finally, and the witches blasted their own spell at her.

The throne room was destroyed in the resulting clash.

The Witches were gone.

* * *

_On Earth..._

"I must leave."

"But _why_?"

"I do not know. All I know is that I must."

"Take me with you."

"Non-magicals cannot go in. The hole in the barrier is too small."

"But..."

"It is for the best, Klaus. I love you. I love Roxy too."

"I know."

"I have to take your memory away. It's for your own good."

"You're the magical, Morgie. I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about when I say _no_."

"It's for the best. You won't have to live with any pain."

"I love you, Morgie."

"I love you too."

"It won't hurt at all. I promise."

* * *

The witch Mab was weary and tired, hiding in a cupboard of the Dominian Royal Palace. She cradled her baby in her arms.

It might seem irresponsible to bring a baby to war, but it would have been more so to leave her alone on Lynphea.

She had been a firm supporter of the Witches' cause, until she'd seen the death and destruction they'd unleashed on Domino. She wanted no part of that, and she had no illusions that she would survive the war. She knew, though, that Princess Daphne was sending her sister Pyra to Earth; and she figured that was best for her baby too. She sent a thread of her magic out to intertwine with Daphne and Pyra's, and tied her baby's thread to that too.

"Goodbye, NoName," she said tiredly. "Be safe."

She didn't have the courage to say _I love you_ and then immediately regretted it when her baby disappeared.

* * *

Stuck between life and death, between one dimension and the other, never fully able to pass on, Daphne's consciousness worked for hours to try and figure out how to manifest as a spirit. She knew her case was rare, and as such couldn't figure out how to properly do it until several hours later. When she finally managed to appear in the ghostly form of her Nymphix, she gasped as she surveyed Domino.

It was a frozen wasteland now; there seemed to be nothing left. _Surely the Witches couldn't have achieved such a monstrosity in such a short amount of time!_ she thought, but what else was the explanation for the landscape she saw now? Her instincts didn't lie. She tried to follow her thread of magic to her family, but no - Oritel's line was dead, and so was Marion's, and she couldn't feel Pyra's at all. She tried to find the other Nymphs - Io was dead, Syffa and Sabrina were lost years ago, Yanli was dead too, T'ana was also dead, Ellena and Combe had been vaporized by their own magical energy, and, of course, Politea was a monster - not a shred of her original personality was left, except perhaps her rampant jealousy. The only thread of magic she could feel was Europa's, Io's twin. It was weak and pulsing with grief, but it was alive, and Daphne drew on the strength that came from knowing that one of her soul sisters lived to not break down in tears right there and then.

She heard footsteps and perked up weakly, trying to present a strong profile for whoever stumbled upon her. Her eyes lit up, though, when she saw who it was: "Laurelia!"

"Daphne!" Laurelia breathed, and she rushed towards her. "What happened to you?"

"I-I'm not sure," Daphne admitted. "I was going to another dimension when the Ancestrals struck, and I'm stuck now. I can't feel Pyra's thread and everyone else is dead-" She choked on her tears.

Laurelia's face softened. "It's okay," she said, trying to give the (former) princess a comforting smile. "It's okay, Daphne. We''l work through this. I need to go now, but hold on for me, okay?"

"Okay," Daphne breathed. "Okay. But... I don't know whether I'll be able to hold on to this world for much longer, at least in the form of a human."

Laurelia frowned. "I could tie you to a source, but I'm not sure if that would just interfere with your already unstable magical core even more."

"Do it," Daphne said. "I-I can't die yet. Not yet."

It was ridiculous, considering the death that had permeated her life these past years, but Daphne had never really given thought to what would happen if _she_ were to die. Now, it was all hitting her in the face, and that, combined with the lingering horror from seeing her people murdered in one of the worst genocides the Magix Dimension had ever seen, she was desperate and hysteric, not really thinking about the consequences of her actions.

"It's Roccaluce Bay in Magix," Laurelia said. "The Source of Sirenix."

Daphne let her reache out with her magic to tie the thread to Roccaluce, all the while thinking about Pyra. The process was exhausting and she disappeared.

Laurelia, meanwhile, looked down at her hands. How had everything escalated so quickly? It was like she'd become headmistress of Alfea only yesterday.

"Faragonda," came Gwendolyn Griffin's voice, a last-minute defector to their side. "We need to go. Your lips are blue."

Startled, Laurelia touched a hand to her mouth. Was it wrong that she hadn't even noticed the cold?

* * *

There were two babies in the portal, peacefully sleeping. For them, the trip to Earth took less time than the blink of an eye. For the rest of the universe, and everything beyond, over a century passed before they got ejected from the portal, because Daphne's wouldn't let go of them until Earth became (relatively) safe.

The remnants of Daphne's magic tried to send Pyra and NoName to Eldora, Daphne's former fairy godmother and tutor, but the spell missed. Pyra and NoName ended up in the same town, but in different areas. NoName was found first.

A woman cocked her head. "Do you hear that, David? Sounds like a baby crying."

David shook his head. "You're hearing things, Cass," he said gently. Cassandra had just been told that she was infertile, which had shaken her to her core. They wanted children desperately, but now David was wondering if his wife was a bit delirious.

"I'm not," Cass insisted. "Listen, really listen. You'll hear it!"

Deciding to entertain her, David cocked his head - and, sure enough, in the distance, was the faint sound of a baby sobbing.

David and Cassandra exchanged wide-eyed looks and bolted after the sound.

They found the girl in an alleyway and picked her up. David frowned. "Strange... the blanket doesn't even say her name or anything!"

"Well, maybe we'll just have to pick one for her," said Cassandra, smiling widely.

David panicked. "Cass, you can't _possibly_ be thinking about keeping her!"

Cassandra lifted her chin. "We wanted children, we're getting children. Besides, this child was meant for us. I can feel it."

David sighed. He knew when Cass had that kind of look on her face, there was no denying her anything she wanted. "What should we call her?" he asked, resigned to his fate.

Cassandra paused.

"Selina. I've always liked the name Selina."

* * *

Where Pyra appeared, the protective charms put on her by Daphne got triggered and set a whole block of apartments on fire. No one was hurt, but it was one of the worst fires in Gardenia's history. Mike Peters, a firefighter, was making his way through the building to look for any people trapped by the flames. That was when he happened upon a baby.

She seemed to almost be... _protected_ by the flames, like they respected her, and she didn't seem hurt or even distressed, like being among flames was normal for her. A glowing barrier was around her. Rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things, Mike shook his head and picked her up. She babbled happily, and the fire started to die down of its own accord; the protective charms receded when they sensed someone who would care for the young princess.

Later that night, Mike brought the baby to the apartment he shared with his wife, Vanessa.

"Mike, we can't keep her!" she said, shaking her head. "We're in no condition to be raising a child. I've only just opened my shop, and your job is barely enough to support the both of us; we can't afford a third person, especially a baby. Besides, where will she sleep when she gets older? And your story about the flames only complicates things."

Mike shook his head. "It's hard to explain, honey, but I feel like we _must_ protect her. Besides, look at her! How can you say no to a face like that?"

As if Pyra could hear him, she shifted in her sleep and murmured, "Mama..."

Vanessa melted. "Fine. I've been looking at a townhouse closer to the shop, anyway... what'll we call her?"

"Well, what about Bloom, after Mom?"

"I like it. It fits her."

* * *

And thus, two fairies and a witch, newly renamed Bloom, Roxy, and Selina, lived in normal families and were raised among a world that no long believed in magic...

And that's where our story begins.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Welcome, one and all, to my first fanfic! This is a rewrite, so I'll be making some HEAVY changes to, well, everything. Not all of these will come into play in this chapter, but once the story actually gets going - oh, boy. Also, I used Google Translate for the Gaelic, to let me know if anything's wrong and I'll fix it. The translation is supposed to say, 'I summon the ethereal magics of the Dragon Flame and release them to Crown Princess Pyra of Domino, daughter of King Oritel and Queen Marion, a descendant of First Vessel Brigid. She swears to use it well, to protect it with her life, and not use it for unwarranted purposes. So I say, so mote it be.' Also, Morgana put a Time Barrier around Tir Nan Og to make sure her fairies lived while she roamed the Earth looking for other fairies to recruit, and Pyra and NoName got stuck in this barrier - so the seige of Domino did happen centuries ago, but Pyra and NoName didn't age during that time. I wasn't sure how to integrate that into the narrative, so I thought, better address it here than break up the flow of the story.**


	2. Match

_The panicked teleport of Queen Stella Iah Aequionoctium Domus-Solina VI of Solaria to Albion is one of the strangest cases of 'happy accident' in recent history (which is saying something). The fact that she landed in the only city on the entire planet where not one, not two, not three, but _four_ magic users resided, and that she happened to attract the attention of possibly the most powerful of them, is something so strange that people have started basing conspiracy theories around it. In fact, all the circumstances surrounding Queen Pyra/Bloom Moirekleyn-Wyrnia-Peters I of Eraklyon's introduction to the Magix Dimension is so unbelievable that people are _still_ assigning researchers to investigate it, despite the fact that all involved parties have repeatedly insisted that it was just a series of fortunate events, as it were._

_\- The Winx Club: The Strange Story of the Heroes of the Magix Dimension, Stolitsa, Zenith_

Bloom Hope Peters did not anticipate starting her summer vacation with being woken up for school, but of course it was only a joke. Her Filipino mother, Vanessa, a woman with nut-brown skin and darker hair that just brushed her jaw, was not particularly fond of 'wasting time' sleeping in, and, in hindsight, Bloom should have seen this coming. She never forgot to set her alarm... not after what had happened last time.

Bloom tried to be amused as she collapsed onto her bed, wincing as her sopping, tangled hair stained the back of her shirt with water. "Not funny, Mama," she moaned, accompanied by a halfhearted attempt at glaring.

Vanessa chuckled. "What were you even doing last night?" She surveyed the room, her eyes landing on an upside-down book. She picked it up, her voice the epitome of amusement crossed with disdain. "_Fairies: Myth or Reality_?" She sighed. "Bloom, you know you're getting too old for these kinds of things. You're eighteen now; a legal adult! You're going to college in two months! I really thing it's time you put this fairy obsession behind you." This conversation was not new to either of them, but Bloom couldn't help it. It was like something in her very soul was calling to her, telling her that something amazing was out there. Of course, she would never voice this sentiment to her mother. Vanessa was a very no-nonsense woman, and this calling would have fallen perfectly in her definition of nonsense.

Vanessa shook her head. "Sorry, hon," she said, and, in an effort to cheer her up, she said, "We have a surprise for you downstairs!"

Bloom blinked and leapt up from the bed, scrambling to tame her still-wet-and-tangled hair in the shortest amount of time possible. A surprise meant that her life had the potential to be a little more interesting than usual.

When she finally finished drying and brushing out her hair, she took the steps two at a time and barreled out the door, only to be confronted with... a cherry red bike.

Bloom's face lit up. They'd been in a tough financial spot when she'd turned sixteen, so she didn't have a car, and while they were better, they were still recovering. The fact that her parents were so thoughtful in the face of their troubles that they'd remembered she'd wanted a bike - in her favorite color, too! - was heartwarming.

She threw an arm around both her parents. "It's perfect!" she gushed. "Thank you!"

Mike and Vanessa grinned at each other, relieved that she'd appreciate it instead of wondering why they hadn't gotten her a car yet. Bloom dashed back into the house to get her rabbit, Kiko, and put him in the basket of the bike, and together, they kicked off.

~oOo~

"Hey, Bloom!" a girl called. Bloom grit her teeth at the nasally voice and determinedly kept pedaling, trying to avoid confrontation. Her former best friend, Mitzi Meyers, was a real piece of work, and Bloom wished she'd never left Selina, her one true friend, for the so-called 'popular' crowd. Selina didn't deserve that and Bloom was amazed she hadn't realized that Mitzi was a complete _bitch_ sooner!

"Hi, Mitzi," she sighed resignedly, when it became apparent that Mitzi wasn't going to leaver her alone. The dark-haired girl slowed her hot pink scooter down to a snail's pace to keep talking with Bloom.

"Still don't have that car? You know, if you hadn't stabbed me in the back, I might have been willing to lend your family some money, and then you wouldn't look like a complete dork." Unfortunately, Bloom was not good with comebacks. She never had been and never would be, and that was just an unfortunate fact of life that she'd learned to get used to long ago.

"While I appreciate the sentiment," Bloom lied, gritting her teeth, "I like this bike. Um, see you later, _Misty_," she said, using the nickname Mitzi had hated from kindergarten when nobody could pronounce her name right. Mitzi snorted derisively and zoomed away. _At least her scooter looks hideous_, Bloom consoled herself.

Bloom walked her bike into her own little safe haven: Gardenia Community Park. The park was a completely green area with only dirt trails, and when Bloom felt to her special spot, it felt like anything could happen, a feeling Bloom reveled in, considering how ordinary her life was.

She leaned her bike against what she considered her tree and settled down to crunch an apple, letting Kiko out of the bike's basket. Tossing the core into a trash can a ways away, she came back to find Kiko in a frightened state, curled up into a little ball and letting out noises of distress.

"Kiko? What's wrong?"

Kiko whimpered and pointed his nose towards the trees, which suddenly loomed ominously instead of being the warm and comforting sight Bloom was used to. She swallowed at the strange sort of energy coming from the trees and looked at Kiko uncertainly; no wonder he was distressed!

Suddenly, a high-pitched scream came from the trees, followed a roar and various strange sounds. Bloom gulped and looked from Kiko to the forest, repeating the gesture at least three times, debating whether or not to see what was going on. Empathy or logic? Empathy or logic?

Eventually, empathy won out. Bloom took out her phone and dialed 911, dialing but not calling, just in case there was an emergency. She slowly crept towards the source of the noise, her resolve weakening with every step. Did she really want to do this? Did she really want to play hero? Shouldn't she be realistic for once?

_Oh, screw it. I'm not realistic at all._

Bloom sprinted towards the source of the noise, only slowing when she saw a clearing. Smiling nervously at Kiko, who made several more noises, the positioned behind a tree, swallowed her nerves, and peeked out from behind it.

For a minute, she thought she was still sleeping.

A girl in a strange orange, red, yellow, and silver outfit with wings - with wings! - wielded a strange-looking staff against a horde of odd purplish-magenta creatures with spine-chilling yellow eyes.

Bloom pinched herself. Hard.

She slapped a hand over her mouth to cover her shriek and watched the rapidly-bruising mark on her arm. Definitely not a dream.

She turned reluctant eyes back towards the scene, where the girl had lifted her nose in the air. "Get back, foul beasts! The power of Solaria will soon overpower you!" Raising her staff, she commanded, "_Rising Sun Burst_!" A wave of light extended from her staff, destroying five of the - ghouls? Yeah, ghouls - with its light.

The girl fluttered into the air with wings that shouldn't have been able to support her and speared the beasts with light from above, but it was obvious she was running out of energy fast. That was when Bloom knew she had to do something; she'd never been one to stand by when injustice was right in front of her, and besides, something was calling her to the girl, a bond that Bloom couldn't explain but knew in her heart of hearts was there.

Picking up a strong-looking branch and feeling exceptionally stupid, Bloom stepped into the light, brandishing her branch. "Hey, freaks!" she called, and felt a strange sensation building her stomach. "Leave her alone!"

As the ghouls charged towards her, Bloom settled into a batting stance and showed the ghouls exactly why an artist like herself was the best bats-woman on her school's baseball team.

~oOo~

Blinking hazily at the mysterious girl who'd come to her aid, Stella forced herself to focus while the ghouls were occupied with the girl. SHe drew strength from the sunlight and gathered her magic. "_Moon's Cold_!" she screamed, the light destroying a significant chunk of the ghouls. Stella sighed in relief and turned her attention to the unknown third party to thank her. Before she could, though, the ogre who'd been hiding in the shadows stepped into the light.

Stella glared at him hatefully. "Finally decided to reveal yourself, tall, green, and ugly?" she sneered. "The power of Solaria's so gonna flatten you!"

"What she said!" the girl said, obviously with no idea what she was talking about, which made Stella wonder just where she'd landed. She shoved that thought to the back of her mind; for now, she needed to focus on the ogre. She had to commend the girl for her bravery, though. Not many non-magicals would go up against an ogre. Stella was forever grateful.

However, the ogre seemed to completely ignore her and charged right at the girl, whose hands shook and dropped her stick. She looked panicked, but the ogre had her cornered. He picked her up by her wrists and waved her around. "Better to take care of any witnesses before I kill the Crown Princess over there," he growled. The girl's eyes widened, filling with tears.

"I knew I should have left well enough alone," she muttered, her voice breaking. "I don't want to die. I never said goodbye to Mama and Daddy."

With that, Stella vowed to herself that she wouldn't let this girl die. No one regretted helping her. "HEY, OGRE!" she screamed. "TAKE THIS! _STARLIT ATTACK_!"

The ogre turned his head at just the wrong moment; the beam flew past him and right into the girl instead. Stella's eyes widened with horror. _No, no, no_, she chanted in her head. _No_.

But the girl didn't seem to be affected. Instead, something seemed to have clicked inside her, and her eyes shone with power as she seemed to absorb Stella's spell instead of being blasted. Stella leaned forward, intrigued. Did the girl have magic?

She turned to the ogre and snarled, "Let. Me. Go!"

Stella's eyes widened as a huge amount of energy exploded from the fairy - of course Stella knew she was a fairy, her energy was too _Light_ to be anything else - and a thick ribbon of light pushed the ogre back, momentarily blinding him. He screamed, and if Stella squinted, she could have sworn that the ribbon of light had the head of a dragon.

"Minions! To me!" the ogre said hoarsely, and all the ghouls scampered to him. He brought his hands together and disappeared. _Coward_.

Stella swayed and the girl rushed to her, gently laying her down on the grass. "You okay?" she asked.

Stella closed her eyes and turned her face to the sunlight, drinking in all the energy she could before answering. "Yeah, I'm fine now. Um, I hope you don't mind me asking, but where am I?"

The girl sounded and looked slightly hysterical when she said, "Gardenia, California." When Stella made a confused face, she elaborated, "United States of America..." Stella still didn't get it. "Planet Earth?"

Stella's eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, I haven't heard of you, so you must be an uncharted dimension that doesn't know about magic." She nodded, muttering to herself.

"Hold up, hold up, hold up," the girl said, raising her hands. "Um, _what_?"

Stella rubbed her face. "Um, magic exists."

The girl stared at her. To prove it, Stella threw her staff up in the air, where it shortened into a ring, which she caught and slipped on her finger. The girl rubbed her temples; Stella couldn't blame her.

"Uh, I come from a planet called Solaria, which I'm the Crown Princess of. I was going to the planet called Magix to attend the Alfea College for Fairies, but someone hijacked my teleport and brought me here. My name's Stella."

The girl paused for a minute as this all sunk in before sighing and sticking out a hand. "I'm Bloom."

Stella and Bloom smiled uncertainly at each other before Stella decided to break the silence. "Um, can you show me some local star charts? If I want to get back on familiar ground, I need to know where I am first, and the name Earth isn't exactly ringing any bells."

Suddenly, Bloom burst into a round of hysterical laughter, and after a moment, Stella joined her. "God, I never thought this would happen to me," she gasped, and Stella grinned insanely at her. "You might want to change into some less... opulent clothes, though."

Stella clicked her fingers and was dressed in a pretty short dress. She grinned at Bloom. "Um, I don't know how to get you home," Bloom said. "I came here on a bike."

Stella waved her hand. "That's not important. What's important is that you explain how you have magic on an uncharted planet."

Bloom had kept glancing down at her hands like she'd never seen them before. "...I don't know," she confessed. "I mean, I was adopted, but as far as I know, no one else on Earth has magic."

"Well, I learned last year that magic reacts to emotions," Stella supplied. "So maybe, because you were in a life-threatening situation, your magic reacted?"

Bloom shook her head. "It only really happened when you shot that spell," she said. "I've been in stressful situations before, though admittedly none of them were life-threatening." (Here she momentarily had a horrible flashback to finals week.)

Stella nodded, humming. "Well, I read somewhere that magic reacts to magic," she said. "So maybe your dormant magic reacted to mine?"

Bloom nodded. "That must be it." They both ignored the strange looks from the townspeople as Stella rode on the handlebars of Bloom's bike.

~oOo~

Bloom pushed open the door and ushured Stella inside, who was still a bit weak from expending all that magic fighting the ghouls and the ogre. "Hey, guys!" she said to her parents, trying to sound cheerful. They raised their eyebrows. "This is my friend, Stella. She got heatstroke and I offered for her to crash at my place until she feels strong enough to go home."

This was the lie they'd come up with on the way back; Bloom was usually a shit liar.

Stella collapsed onto the couch, smiling weakly at Bloom's parents. "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Peters."

Vanessa went into the kitchen to get a glass of water while Mike kept his eyebrows raised and sat across from them. "Bloom, I'm not sure I believe you," he said honestly.

Of course. She would never lie and get away with it.

Bloom and Stella exchanged a look, and Stella gave the most imperceptible of nods. Bloom sighed and turned back around to where her mom had returned from the kitchen, handing her friend a glass of water. She sat down next to Mike and Bloom laced her hands together, unsure how to phrase it.

Ultimately, she just copied Stella.

"Magic is real."

Mike blinked and Vanessa put a hand over her mouth. Vanessa looked at her carefully. "Honey..."

"I'm serious," said Bloom. "Stella, show them."

Stella lifted her head and wrapped her hands around her glass, closing her eyes. Suddenly, a glow enveloped the glass, and it turned into a book. Bloom's parents stared. "It's best to rip it off like a Band-Aid," Stella said. "Take as much time as you want to let it sink in." She followed this up by turning the book back into a glass. "Damn, I wish some teachers had been here to grade that. That was a perfect transfiguration, if I do say so myself."

She and Bloom exchanged grins.

Mike shook his head. "Listen, honey," he said, "you know how you were adopted?"

Bloom blinked. "Yeah?" What did that have to do with anything?

"The night I found you in that burning building, it was almost like a shield was protecting you," he revealed. "I convinced myself that I was imagining it, but I've never been able to get it out of my mind, and, well, now..." He looked at Stella, then at the glass.

Bloom's mouth fell open. "Stella... I may not be from Earth."

Vanessa blinked. "What does that mean?"

Bloom realized she hadn't explained the entire situation to them and looked to Stella for help, who immediately began speaking. "Well, basically, there are other planets out there with magic," she said. "I'm the Crown Princess of a planet called Solaria, and I was teleporting to another planet called Magix to go to Alfea College for Fairies when my teleport got hijacked and I ended up here, fighting an ogre and his ghouls. Your daughter here found me and totally helped me fight them off with her magic!"

Mike's mouth fell open. "It can't be..." Meanwhile, Vanessa started fussing over a very flustered Bloom.

"But it is," Stella said passionately. "Your daughter is powerful!" She blinked as if remembering something. "Speaking of which, I should totally take you to Alfea. Headmistress Faragonda has a lot of political clout as a Nymph, so we can see if she can find out anything about a missing eighteen-year-old fairy."

Vanessa pressed her lips together. "I'm not sure..."

Bloom looked at her parents pleadingly. "You said it yourself this morning, Mama," she said. "I'm an adult now, and I can make my own decisions. And I want to know my biological family, if they're out there."

Vanessa and Mike looked at each other before Mike sighed. "Of course, honey. We'll support you in any of your choices, okay?"

Bloom's smile could have put the sun to shame, and Stella would know. She hated to ruin the tender family moment, but she really needed to see a star chart. "Hey, um, could I see star charts? To figure out where I am? Please?"

Bloom seemed to come crashing back down to earth and she smiled sheepishly as she pulled out her phone. "Yeah, let me just..." She trailed off as she typed it in.

A few seconds later, Bloom pulled up a few images and gave her phone to Stella. "Here, do these work?"

After a few minutes of studying them, Stella almost dropped the phone in her shock. "No. No. No. This can't be possible."

"What can't?"

Stella swallowed heavily. "I'm on fucking _Albion_?!"

"Stella! Not in front of my parents!"

Stella registered somewhere in her mind that she probably shouldn't have said that, but she was too caught up in her unpleasant surprise. "Albion," she said, rubbing her eyes, "was annexed from the Magix Dimension centuries ago after the eradication of the Earth Fairies. If the ogre and his minions would have been victorious, sure, my family would have scoured the uncharted planets, but they wouldn't touch Albi- er, Earth."

The room fell into a heavy silence.

~oOo~

"Knut!" an icy voice snapped.

The ogre that had tried to attack Stella stepped into the light. He swallowed nervously; he was dealing with temperamental, powerful people, and that was never a good combination, especially factoring in the detail that he had failed in his mission, he'd been on the receiving end of their wrath before, and they didn't think too highly of ogres.

"Report!" This voice was more smooth and melodic, like a dangerous lullaby. This voice always reminded Knut of poisoned honey.

Knut swallowed. "Um, I didn't get the scepter-"

"WHAT?!" the voices bellowed at once, joined by a third.

"There was a complication! We were fought back by an Earthian!"

"You were overpowered by a weak, magicless _Earthian_?!" the third voice shrieked, crackling like lightning with her rage.

"But this wasn't just any Earthian, highnesses! This Earthian had powerful magic!"

"That's all well and good, Knut," the first voice sneered, "but the only question is if you can find them again and get the scepter. Remember, we only keep you as long as you're useful."

Knut swallowed. "I can, highnesses. I got a few strands of the Earthian's hair. To us, this means nothing, but to a Hunting Troll, this is an important clue."

The second voice hummed. "Proceed, Knut."

"And this time..." the third voice began.

"Don't let us down."

~oOo~

Stella sighed and sat straight up, lifting her head with a newfound confidence. "Well, what's done is done. The point is he's gone now and we defeated him; now, I just need to figure out a route to Magix." She grabbed a paper and pen, courtesy of Bloom, and started scribbling down inane figures. "I need to compensate for your mass, Bloom," she said distractedly. She whipped out her phone to make sure it had properly adjusted to their location - the middle of cosmic nowhere.

"Those seem like some pretty complicated calculations, Stella," said Mike. Vanessa and Bloom agreed.

"Yeah, and meanwhile, I barely got through eighth grade algebra!" Bloom joked, to the amusement of her parents.

Stella blushed and waved it off. "It's pretty simple where I come from," she lied and quickly changed the topic. "So, what's fashionable around here?" Bloom gave her a suspicious look.

Vanessa chuckled. "Before we talk about that, how about we get some pizza? It's good to eat heavy food after a heavy conversation."

A few moments later, Stella was raving over the Earthian delicacy. "Ugh, this is so good!" she moaned. "You know, I didn't expect such an uncivilized realm to create something so scrumptious, but here we are. I really must commend whoever came up with this. Who knew cheese on sauce on bread could be so good?"

"Amen," Bloom agreed, and earned only a funny look from Stella. The tips of her ears pinked. "Uh, sorry. I forgot you weren't from around here. It's basically a word of agreement."

Stella shrugged and accepted it. "Ugh, who's having a party?" Mike groaned. "What's with all the thumps?"

Both Bloom and Stella sat straight up and exchanged alarmed looks, and the minute they made eye contact, the front door was torn down.

A huge blue monstrosity had arrived, and Bloom screamed along with her parents. Stella restrained her reaction for their sakes, but in a normal setting she probably would have done the same; instead, she yelled, "STELLA, MAGIC WINX!" A blur obscured her, like Bloom's brain refused to process what her eyes were telling her. Then Stella was dressed in the same outfit from early, complete with her small wings. She quickly took off her ring and threw it in the air, watching as it elongated into a staff.

Bloom's parents would have gaped, but it was a fight-or-flight situation, and they'd chosen to fight. Mike had gotten an old axe and a broken broom from the storage closet, which he and Vanessa respectively brandished.

Stella fluttered into the air, whipping out her phone and calling the emergency line (123). "Emergency line, how can we help you?"

"I'm on Albion. A Hunting Troll has broken down the door and I have three innocents with me. Get here quickly." She sent a thread of her magic through the phone line so that they could find her quicker; she knew how these things worked. She was the Crown Princess of Solaria, so she kind of had to.

The robot on the other end didn't react at the mention of Albion and said, "The authorities will arrive quickly." The line went dead.

Stella swallowed and readied her magic. "_Eclipse's Ring_!" she bellowed, and a ring of light came out of her staff and encircled the Hunting Troll, which subdued it for a moment as she thought quickly on what to do.

Meanwhile, Bloom tried to channel that feeling she'd felt when driving away the ogre: the feeling of sinking into a warm bath. She remembered the fear she had, the desperation, the power she'd felt when she'd absorbed Stella's blast - and suddenly, a stream of fire came out of her hands and toasted a few ghouls that were sneaking up behind her parents. She stared at her hands and whooped in joy.

"See?" Stella called. "Once a fairy, always a fairy!"

Bloom channeled the feeling again, and again, and again, destroying multiple ghouls. Mike and Vanessa beat them back with their 'weapons', and even Kiko bit any ghoul getting too close to Bloom. He had very impressive teeth and always left marks. Suddenly, Bloom felt glad she was always too lazy to take him to the vet to get his teeth checked, even though she knew it was probably a very bad pet-owner thing of her to do.

"Hey, Crown Princess! Your knights in shining armor are here!"

Bloom and Stella turned to the four boys who'd arrived. Mentally, Bloom labled them as Dreamy Blond, Brunette, Grouchy Purple, and Shy Glasses. Bloom snorted before Stella could say anything. "Took you long enough," she said, blasting the ghouls. "Well? Are you going to help or not?"

Dreamy Blond raised his eyebrows in interest but turned his attention to subduing the troll. Grouchy Purple shot out some rope and wound it around the blue monstrosity's top half. "Hah! No need to worry, guys, I've got him."

"Riven-" Shy Glasses began, but Riven was pulled by the troll and skidded across the concrete. He got up, unfazed, and Bloom raised an eyebrow. Those ridiculous spandex suits must have been stronger than they looked. "Riven," Shy Glasses continued, "you're supposed to go for the feet." He raised an eyebrow at Brunette, who plunged his glowing green broadsword into the Earth, making cracks spread across it. Riven and Dreamy Blond continued fending off ghouls.

Shy Glasses shot at the troll's feet until he fell into a crack, and then he bound the troll from head to toe in strange bronze rope. Stella and Brunette immediately started checking each other out. Bloom snorted into her hand.

"Hi," Dreamy Blond said. "I'm Brandon, that's Timmy, Riven, and the pervert over there is Sky." He addressed Shy Glasses, Riven, and Dreamy Blond in order.

"I'm Bloom and this is Stella, which you probably already know," Bloom said. Brandon snorted and tilted his head towards Sky and Stella, who were very not-subtly flirting with each other. Bloom grinned.

"What kind of fairy assignment must you be on the way out here?" Timmy asked, surveying the primitive (in his eyes) scenery.

Stella half-lidded her eyes and played coy. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

"Thanks for the help," Bloom added, involuntarily ruining the effect. "Bye."

"Bye," they chorused, except for Riven, and they disappeared into a red light, taking the troll with them.

"You know," Stella said to Mike, who had already taken up a broom, "if you would let me use magic, we could do this a lot easier."

Mike shook his head. "I think we've all had enough magic for one day," he sighed. "Besides, this way helps me think."

Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Mike, swallow your masculine pride and let her help! Besides, we could see what Bloom will be learning at Alfea."

Stella waved her hand and they all watched as shattered pieces of glass welded together and the cracks in the sidewalk sealed like they were never there. Bloom shook her head. "How did no one hear us?"

Stella snorted. "Please, literally everyone magical except you set up silencing charms before they did anything. Not that that's a dig at you," she hurried to assure when Bloom pinked. "Anyway, I should probably get around to calling Headmistress F." She bowed out and took out her phone, waiting with bated breath.

"Hello?"

"Headmistress, it's Princess Stella."

"Miss Stella! We were worried sick about you. What happened?!"

Stella sighed. "Someone hacked my teleport and I ended up on Albion, of all places. There, an ogre and his ghouls attacked me. I was losing until another girl showed up, surprisingly with magic. She helped me beat them back. Since Varanda dropped out, and I was coming to you to find someone to fill her place anyway, I was wondering if it could be Bloom. She seems really powerful, even with no training." The royal family of Callisto had agreed to pay for whoever came along to fill Varanda's place, so Bloom wouldn't even have to pay.

There was silence on the other end, then a quiet hum from Faragonda as she thought. "You know what, Stella? I agree. We'll iron out the details once she comes."

~oOo~

**Author's Note:**

**Not too happy with this chapter, but after the sixth time rewriting it, I figured it would do.**

**Yeah, Alfea's going to be a real college, so Bloom's a full-fledged adult at eighteen and one of the oldest in her age group since she was born in December (this is canon, check the Wikia). I'm going off the California cutoff, which is September 1st. Also, to get a good idea of Stella's fairy form, just go to emsartwork on Tumblr and see her revamped Magic Winx, Charmix, and Enchantix redesigns. I'm actually going off of her a lot for the descriptions here, so you might want to see the Winx's information pages too.**


	3. Spark

_The Intake: a period of several days for new and old students to arrive and familiarise themselves with the campus, and get caught up before classes start, so they don't spend the first few classes trying to swap summer-break gossip. It also serves for school clubs to do their 'come join us' pitches, or get set up for the year. Classes start the day after the Welcome Back Party._

_\- Alfea College for Fairies: An Introductory Pamphlet_

A month after Stella and Bloom's unorthodox meeting, Bloom stared down at her suitcase.

This was it. It was time to become an adult in the weirdest way possible: by literally traveling to another planet to learn about magic.

She was worried. Everyone else had eighteen years of magical experience on her, and she hadn't really been away from her parents for longer than a week. She had virtually no experience in the real world - hell, she didn't even have a credit card! How was she supposed to function on Magix?

Fighting this sudden surge of anxiety, she closed her suitcase and poked her head into Stella's room, eyes widening as she saw Stella's version of packing: clothes were flying into her luggage haphazardly, with no organization whatsoever. She was glad her mom was out getting groceries, or she might've had a heart attack at Stella's complete lack of discipline.

Stella caught her expression and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, Bloom," she said, blushing. "I've never had a good grasp on household charms, to be honest. That's more Mom's style."

Bloom shook her head fondly; after a month, Bloom was closer with Stella than she was with any other person in Gardenia, even more than Selina. "Didn't you travel anywhere as a royal?"

Stella snorted. "The heir to the Solarian throne always has to stay inside the castle," she said, and didn't explain why. From her face, Bloom wasn't sure she wanted to know.

It was then that Bloom heard the garage door open, and her anxiety returned with full force. Stella was always good at distracting her, but apparently not good enough. Mike and Vanessa had talked Stella into letting them go to Alfea ages ago, and they'd already packed. Now that they were here, it was time to go.

Her parents retrieved their suitcases and everyone stood uncertainly in the middle of the living room, looking at each other. _This is it_, Bloom repeated to herself.

Stella threw her ring into the air and they all watched as it transformed into a staff, blurring slightly. "Anyone forget anything?"

At the shakes of the Peters' heads, Stella hefted her staff high above her head, and suddenly the air swelled with power; as Stella had instructed her, she grabbed hold of both of her parents, who were carrying her luggage because of this requirement. The magic still swirled in the air, waiting to be released. Bloom reached out with her own magic - something that had taken her weeks to master - and touched it, a jumble of nerves and excitement. Later, Bloom would mark this moment as crossing the threshold into adulthood.

"_Magix_!" Stella called, voice distant and close at the same time, and the magic Bloom had tentatively been interacting with (it felt like sunlight) grabbed a hold of her and whisked her away.

* * *

"Bloom? Bloom? You can open your eyes now."

_Stella_, Bloom identified the voice, and blinked, shaking her head. The trip had been pretty comfortable - just a flash of warmth - but Stella had warned her to not open her eyes until she gave the okay. Apparently, actually _seeing_ the inside of a wormhole was not advised.

"I'm fine," said Bloom unnecessarily, getting up. Almost immediately, she could notice a difference. The air in Magix was sort of sweet-smelling and completely devoid of any pollution, something that made her smile; she also felt heavy, because Magix's diameter was about one and a half times bigger than that of Earth's. It was a struggle to get up.

"Bloom, I _told_ you to drink the gravity-adjusting potion," said Stella, sounding vaguely disapproving.

Bloom shrugged, still feeling strange and lethargic. It seemed that her parents had remembered, though, as they got up with no problem and looked around with wonder on their faces. Bloom, unused to seeing this childlike expression on them, dragged her eyes up from the ground and stared.

Magix had white buildings that contrasted with green plants everywhere. It looked a lot like the concept art for eco cities that Bloom had come across when she'd researched global warming for a project. Her eyes went wide as she took it in; there were impossible feats of architecture held together only by magic, people levitating from building to building and specific balcony entrance points; it was at turns amazing and overwhelming. _This is another world_, thought Bloom, the realization hitting her suddenly, and she felt foolish for thinking it would be anything like Earth, especially with some of the outrageous hair, eye, and skin colors she spotted, even people completely nonhuman.

"We're at the teleportation point," Stella was explaining to her much-less-sluggish parents, "just beyond the shields. It wouldn't be safe letting people teleport right inside the school, even if we're living in a time of peace."

"It does seem awfully quiet for so near a big city," said Mike, shaking off his awe and looking at Stella expectantly.

Stella laughed airily. "Well, Red Fountain's a military school, no one would dare anger the CT residents, and us fairies can hold our own in a fight, too," she said. "No one's insane enough to seriously attack Magix without _serious_ backup, and it hasn't made enemies with any of the other planets. Anyway, we should probably get you fully enrolled." She linked their arms and led them to the entrance of the grand (and pink-tinted) school.

* * *

Eldora frowned as she sensed a great disturbance on the magical plane. That couldn't in Gardenia - the only other mage beside Selina and herself was…

_Bloom_.

Suddenly panicked, she felt for the energy's source and, sure enough, it was centered on Bloom's house. The last she'd heard of the Peterses was that Bloom was going to some fancy college, and while Eldora had initially been worried, she'd learned an associate of hers was stationed there.

The Peterses did not know Eldora; in fact, she was willing to bet no one in the town did, perhaps the entire world save for a few. She took a post-it from her car and scribbled down a note. She'd passed off the rumors of Bloom's new friend and the strange circumstances that surrounded it as just that - rumors - but now she cursed herself for her shortsightedness.

_Mr. and Mrs. Peters,_

_If anything unusual happens at your house, contact me. I am a special agent, you could say, and I deal with in these things._

The rest of the note was her contact information.

* * *

In the end, no one knew where Bloom had come from. The only planet that had predominantly redheads was Domino, which had been wiped out centuries ago in a mass genocide.

Meanwhile, Faragonda frowned. Bloom's power was immense; in fact, she had not felt power like this for many, many years… in fact, she'd not felt power like this since _Marion_. Of course, they'd already established that Bloom's features predominantly resembled that of a Dominian, and she had a fire source, which was another characteristic of Dominians… but it couldn't be. Flashes of that horrible battle, of that last flash of light she'd seen from her spaceship, of the ghostly form of dear Daphne, made into a ghost so young, swirled around in her mind.

The memories rarely made an appearance, but when they did, they were horrible.

_No_, Faragonda comforted herself; this was just her searching for remnants of her friends in anything she could.

Bloom could not possibly hold the Great Power. After all, she was an Earthian. What would the Great Power be doing on Earth?

* * *

"The Trix are legendary," Stella was telling Bloom. "They got through the shields on the second month of their first year."

Bloom's eyes were huge. She knew Stella was trying to distract her from the fact that she could only stay as long as she could transform by the end of the first semester, but it was still turning around in her mind. How was she ever going to manage that? The knowledge that it usually came to fairies once they hit their teens only stung. Of course, it was Griselda who'd added this clause. Bloom wasn't looking forward to having her classes. At least Stella had vouched for her, and when the Fairy of Celestial Lights, the most powerful student in possibly the entire dimension, called someone powerful, you listened.

The goodbyes with her parents had been bittersweet, and she tried not to think about them.

"On the plus side, our dorm has the _best_ views of the grounds," Stella was saying when Bloom tuned back in. they turned a corner, and there it was: the Wings Dormitory.

_The Wings Dormitory:_

_Miss Willow Gaimonos of Lynphea, Fairy of Plants_

_Crown Princess Stella Iah Aequinoctium Domus-Solina, Fairy of Celestial Lights_

_Miss Kazuko Kikitan of Melody, Fairy of Music_

_Miss Bloom Peters of Earth, Title Yet to Be Decided_

_Lady Titania Xeneterian of Zenith, Fairy of Technology_

"Oh, boy," Stella sniffed. "We have a Zenithian Lady. That means she's going to be a stuck-up genius."

"Willow or Kazuko or I might assume the same about you, Stella," Bloom pointed out. She shrugged as Bloom pushed the door open.

The dorm was beautiful.

Light filtered in through the huge glass doors leading to the balcony in the common space, which was equipped with a kitchenette, coffee table, sofas, and a carpet. A beautiful vase of flowers sat on the table, ones which Bloom didn't recognize. The room was decorated in shades of blue, white, and pink. "I told you it was the best dorm in the castle," Stella said smugly when she spied Bloom's awed look. "Ooh, I have a room to myself!"

"Are you kidding?" Bloom exclaimed. "I bet the dorms aren't this good at Harvard!"

"You must be the Earth girl," said a new voice, poking her head out of the room Bloom was sharing with Willow.

Willow was short, about Stella's height, and plump with a sweet face framed by bangs and an open expression. Her sclera was green at the edges, and her dark hair quickly faded to a lighter shade at the tips. Her skin was light brown, tinged green at the fingers, cheeks, and knees, and she had a pretty smile. "That's me," Bloom said awkwardly, sticking out her hand. "I'm Bloom, but you already knew that."

She curtsied. "I'm Willow, but you also already knew that." A smile played across her features

"And I'm Kaz!" someone said loudly, barging into the room and almost bowling Stella over. "Sorry," she said, not sounding very sorry.

'Kaz' had slanted brown eyes and was even shorter than Stella and Willow - even smaller than Bloom had been in middle school. Her dark hair, sort of blue, was piled in two buns on her head and when she smiled, Bloom tried not to stare at her sharp teeth. Her skin was golden and she was wearing a Swords and Poppies t-shirt, which Stella had gushed about as all the rage as they'd walked to the dorm.

She was the only one in the room without pointed ears.

"You do not appear to feel genuine remorse," a cool voice noted, and their last roommate - Titania - stepped into the room, tall and with a shock of pink hair. Her face was completely unreadable as she deposited her suitcase in the room she shared with Kazuko.

She shrugged.

"Um, you guys seem to already know that I'm from Earth-" Bloom began.

Willow waved a hand. "Yeah, we got the notification," she said. "They're keeping it under wraps but people might start asking questions if you act too ignorant. We'll brush any insults off but there are a lot of powerful people here who could seriously screw you up."

Bloom smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"By the way," Kazuko said, sounding curious, "what happened? We only heard that you guys were attacked, which resulted in your powers surfacing."

"We should go out to eat," said Titania. At their blank looks, she shrugged. "What? I have read that eating over food is a good way of forming emotional bonds. I do not want to go the year without knowing the people I am living with."

* * *

The bus was both self-driving and solar powered, something that made Bloom smile as they all settled into their seats. No one paid them much attention except for Stella - "Is that the Solarian Heir?" - but even that wasn't that much of an issue, since Alfea had a lot of royalty and other important people attending.

"So, about the attack?" Kaz asked.

"We need to tell them," said Stella. "If we get attacked again - not that it'll happen, I always have protection - they could be targets."

One long story later, Kaz, Willow, and Titania were sitting, wide-eyed. Well, not so much Titania, who seemed incapable of emotion, but her hand was twitching. "We should tell you about Magix," she concluded. "If whoever sent the troll after you wants to finish you guys off, they will probably go after people who do not seem to know much about our dimension as opposed to knowledgeable people."

Bloom nodded. "Okay."

"I'm, as you already know, the future Queen of Solaria," said Stella. "Solaria has two suns and a lot of moons, and it's very rich. It's mostly hot and dry desert, and most of the magic users who hail from there have titles relating to the sun, moon, or stars. I have all three, making me the Fairy of Celestial Lights."

"That's another thing," Bloom interrupted. "On the pamphlet with all of our names, it said you all were the fairies of blank. What does that mean?"

"Basically just magic you're more attuned to," said Willow. "From your story, you might be a fire fairy, since that was your go-to when you were panicking."

"I suppose," said Bloom, who had an unhealthy fascination with flames when she was younger. She'd constantly been going to stick her hands in them and it had taken her parents a worrying amount of time to teach her that it was not, in fact, okay.

"I'm from Lynphea," Willow continued. "It's only slightly less bigger than Solaria and its land is almost completely covered with greenery. Most magic users from there have titles relating to nature. It's pretty temperate."

"Melody is part of the Harmonic Nebula. Other planets include Harmony, Adagio, Sonata, Aria… well, you get it," Kaz said at Bloom's bemused look. "Melody's a little more cold than warm, but some areas approach tropical. Most magic users from there have titles relating to sound. My dad" - and Bloom noticed a pained look on her face - "is from Zhen, which has a big civil war going on-"

"But the White Horse somehow got its hands on Zhenese Argali meat," Stella interrupted, gushing. "It's to die for, and I don't know _how_ they did it, but you're going to _love_ it!"

"Thank you, Stella," said Kaz, annoyed.

"Zenith is freezing," said Titania bluntly. "Its magic users most have sources relating to STEM, I believe your planet calls it." She said no more on the matter. "By the way, Bloom doesn't have any Astrals, does she? How's she going to pay for Argali meat, of all things?"

"That's not a problem," said Stella, grinning. "Bloom, I am now officially your fairy godmother."

Bloom could feel her face scrunching. "I dunno, Stella. I could get a job to pay you back!"

Willow shook her head. "Hon, you already don't know anything about magic. You're not going to have time to catch up if you get an after-school job, too." She sounded so motherly Bloom was momentarily reminded of Vanessa, and she almost cried.

"Here's what you should do," said Kaz, surprising everyone who'd thought she hadn't been paying attention. "You agree and let Stella treat you, and then you can pay her back after you graduate and you get a job."

"What do fairies do for jobs anyway?"

Titania looked curious. "What do Earthians do for jobs? I can't imagine it would be much different. Some people research new transformations, some people become Guardian Fairies, who are part of the elite protectors of their planet, et cetera. The only difference is people whose magics are tailored to specific things are more sought after. There was a big social revolution by people without enough magic to cast spells, but other than that, there's nothing different."

Bloom raised an eyebrow. "'People without _enough_ magic'? I thought there were people with and people without."

Titania scoffed at the idea. "Everyone has a little bit of magic in them," she said. "Even Earthians. Maybe someone's really good at making jam, or always knows how to brighten your day, or has a super green thumb. That's their inner magic. If their atmosphere was inundated with magic like ours is, some of them would manifest."

As they got off the bus and made their way to the White Horse, right on the shore of Roccaluce Bay, Stella changed the subject. "Back to more important things: the ball!"

"The ball?" Bloom asked, alarmed.

Kaz snorted at her expression. "Word."

"Oh, yes!" Stella gushed, taking her hands and spinning her around as they settled down. "The Welcome Back Party! And the Red Fountain boys are going to be there!"

"What about the Cloud Tower girls?" asked Bloom, thinking their exclusion was supremely unfair.

"They used to come, but they pulled too many pranks," she said. "Enough about them. Girl, we need to get you a dress!"

"We should come back tomorrow," Kaz interjected, looking like she really, really didn't want to stop for dress shopping this time in the evening. "It's getting late."

"A logical idea," Titania agreed. "By the way, Bloom, if you need any help with your magic, we're all here."

The unexpected offer from the girl who looked like she couldn't care about anything made her smile in the face of her panic. "I need to get my Magic Winx by the end of the month," she admitted. "I haven't even deliberately cast a spell yet - one that wasn't in the heat of the moment."

"We'll help," said Willow, like she was making a pledge.

"Totally," Musa said.

"I think this is the start of a wonderful friendship," Stella announced gleefully, looking around at them.

They made an odd group, Bloom would reflect many years later, but there in that high-class restaurant, eating things her younger self hadn't known the names of while the sun was setting, it was most certainly the start of something wonderful.


End file.
